Reconciliation after urine joke Howard Carpendale invites Oliver Welke to a concert
Howard Carpendale had expressed his disappointment with Welke. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Oliver Welke has received criticism for a joke about Howard Carpendale's fans, including from the pop singer himself. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Howard Carpendale had expressed his disappointment with Welke. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
Oliver Welke has received criticism for a joke about Howard Carpendale's fans, including from the pop singer himself. (archive picture)
Image: dpa
After a row over a joke about the rapper's fans, Oliver Welke asked for peace. Carpendale now invites him to a concert. Will the satirist accept?
03.05.2026, 18:21
dpa
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- Howard Carpendale and satirist Oliver Welke have made peace.
- Welke had insulted the pop singer's fans in a joke on the "heute-show".
- Welke has now asked Carpendale for peace - he accepts and invites Welke to a concert.
In the dispute between Howard Carpendale and Oliver Welke over a joke about his fans, the pop singer has shown himself to be conciliatory after the satirist's recent words on the "heute-show" - and invited Welke to one of his concerts. "Oliver Welke tried to calm the waters on Friday and asked for a bit of peace. I think that's a good thing now," Carpendale wrote on his Instagram account.
"And while the tone is slowly calming down, I'm looking ahead again," Carpendale continued. "I invite Oliver Welke to come to one of my concerts in Frankfurt next year. Then he can see for himself what my audience is really like."
Welke had said on the ZDF "heute-show" program on April 24 about Howard Carpendale's fans: "One hundred legs, everything stinks of urine. What's that? The front row for Carpendale." This was met with criticism, including from Carpendale (80) himself.
Carpendale gave Welke an ultimatum
"I would never have thought that you have these tendencies to hit on people who can't defend themselves," the singer said in a video on Instagram, among other things. Welke had probably never been to one of his gigs. There are "fine people" at his concerts. He also gave Welke an ultimatum. Until he apologized, "there's nothing to discuss between the two of us".
Welke then commented on Carpendale's statement in the "Bild" newspaper: "Our topic in the show was AI, and in one clip a care robot tells a bad joke. Then I tried to add an even worse one - and it worked. For that we needed a pop singer that everyone knows. Incidentally, I've never actually been to a Howard Carpendale concert. But I bet there are fragrant people of all ages there."
"Peace"
In the "heute-show" on May 1, Welke then made his comments again. After talking about US President Donald Trump's call for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who is critical of Trump, he added: "Gags about Trump - almost as dangerous as messing with Howard Carpendale fans." He then added: "Very decent people, by the way, who actually smell wonderful. Peace."
Later in Friday night's show, Welke explained, "Yes, it was a very silly unnecessary old joke." And he promised: "I won't insult any more singers." Previously, a satirical segment about a fictitious betting shop dealt with the question of which popular singer Welke would insult next "without need with a tasteless joke".
